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Nigeria

Why did Boko Haram emerge in the northeastern city of Maiduguri? How did the jihadist movement manage to control territories in northeastern Nigeria and beyond? And how does Boko Haram adjust its strategies to local and external events? This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand Boko Haram’s trajectory. Read on

In April, four journalists published a photo essay in The Guardian about the consequences of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad basin. They visited refugee camps in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Their photographs tell the stories of fractured families and untold suffering. Read on

As part of the VAM Gender & Markets Initiative, the WFP West Africa office published a new study on market conditions faced by women farmers and traders in two culturally similar yet administratively different areas: the Kano-Katsina region in northern Nigeria and the Maradi region in southern Niger. Read on

The ECOWAS Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) provided an update on the implementation of the Regional Food Security Reserve. Thanks to the support of partners, notably the European Union, the first physical stock of 11 200 tonnes of cereals (millet, maize, sorghum, rice) has now been established and seven national storage companies have been selected. Read on

Special Representative of the Secretary-General Mohammed Ibn Chambas, who is also the head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, delivered his briefing on the security situation in the Sahel and West Africa on 11 January to the UN Security Council. “The security situation remains a grave concern,” he said. Read on

UNICEF has published a statistical report on child marriage in West and Central Africa. As a previous Maps & Facts issue has shown, the region remains one of the most impacted by early marriage, which is one of the practices that the sustainable development goals seek to eradicate. Seven West African countries rank among the top 20 countries in the world with the highest rate of child marriage. Read on

Conflict, drought and food price inflation are the main causes of food insecurity in Nigeria. The Boko Haram conflict has displaced massive numbers of people and has put more pressure on food resources in the northeastern part of the country, where violence is leading to a decline in agricultural production and is depriving farmers of stable incomes. Nutrition interventions need to be extended across the country, and involve related issues, such as maternal nutrition. Read on

On 1 October, Nigeria celebrated its 57th Independence Day. On this occasion, President Buhari, present after his long absence this summer because of poor health, paid tribute to the country’s military in Maiduguri and commended the military’s efforts fighting Boko Haram in the country’s northeast. In his 2017 State of the Nation Address, Buhari evaluated the government’s actions over the past two years. Nigeria’s three top priorities remain security, economic recovery and the fight against corruption. Read on

The fourth high-level meeting on “Peaceful transhumance and livestock mobility in the Sahel and West African coastal countries” was held by ECOWAS from 27-29 September 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Livestock ministers from across the region endorsed the funding modalities to establish the Regional Investment Programme for Livestock Development in Coastal Countries (PRIDEC), targeting the livestock sector of five coastal countries (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo). PRIDEC is designed to complement the Regional Support Project for Pastoralism in the Sahel (PRAPS). Read on

During a visit to Nigeria on 30 August, the UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and international development secretary Priti Patel, announced a four-year aid package worth GBP 200 million to help northeastern Nigeria recover from the Boko Haram insurgency. This is less than they previously spent (GBP 100 million in 2017 alone) but the new package is intended to complement DFID’s current humanitarian programme. Read on